Systems and methods for detecting tax refund fraud

• US 8,682,755 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2012
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Inc. (RELX PLC)
• Original Assignee: LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Inc. (RELX PLC)
• Inventors: Bucholz, Andrew John, Prichard, Johannes Philippus de Villiers, Straub, Scott M., Faidley, Monty, Shaw, Jesse C B D, O'Mahony, Dermot C., Yeschek, David, Paganacci, Jennifer, Thorogood, Marlene, Loizzo, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARIKH, HARSHAD R
• Application Number:
  US13/541,157
• Publication Number:
  US 20140012716A1
• Time in Patent Office: 630 Days
• Field of Search: 705/30, 705/19, 705/31
• US Class Current: 705/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/265 Personal security, identity or safety

Abstract

Certain embodiments of the disclosed technology may include systems and methods for detecting tax refund fraud. According to an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed technology, a method is provided for detecting tax refund fraud. The method includes receiving entity-supplied information. In an exemplary embodiment, the entity-supplied information includes at least a name, social security number, and mailing address. The method further includes querying one or more databases with the entity-supplied information and receiving a plurality of independent information in response to the querying. The method can include determining, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with the plurality of independent information, zero or more indicators of fraud. The method can include outputting the zero or more indicators of fraud.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for detecting a tax refund fraud related to an identity misrepresentation, the method comprising:

receiving entity-supplied information comprising at least a name, a social security number, and a mailing address with a zip code associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

querying one or more public or private databases with the entity-supplied information, wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receiving a plurality of independent information in response to the querying, wherein the plurality of independent information includes, as applicable;

an indication of whether or not the entity is deceased, and a date of death when the entity is indicated as deceased;

independent address information associated with the entity;

address validity information associated with the entity-supplied information;

one or more records associated with the entity-supplied information;

or

no information; and

determining, with one or more computer processors in communication with a memory, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with at least a portion of the plurality of independent information, indicators of fraud, comprising;

entity deceased within a tax year related to the tax refund or died within a timeframe of the tax year that would indicate a possible non-fraud tax refund request;

the entity-supplied mailing address does not match with any of the independent address information;

the entity-supplied mailing address having no record of association with any independent address information, including addresses of relatives or addresses of associates; and

the entity-supplied mailing address includes an entity-supplied zip code having no record of association with one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information;

outputting, for display, zero or more indicators of fraud, wherein zero indicators of fraud correspond to no fraud determined.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with the plurality of independent information, zero or more fraud false positive indicators, wherein a false positive indicator corresponds to a legitimate tax refund request that appears fraudulent, the zero or more fraud false positive indicators comprising one or more of;

the entity appears to be a minor based on one or more of the entity-supplied information and the independent information, wherein the entity-supplied social security number is valid and issued within three to fifteen years;

or

the entity is at least twenty-four years old, and the independent information comprises no information;

or

the entity-supplied mailing address is invalid with a record of association between a zip code of the entity-supplied mailing address and one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information; and

outputting the zero or more fraud false positive indicators.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, the indication of whether or not the entity is deceased comprises a length of time since the entity has deceased when the entity is indicated as deceased.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of independent information comprises receiving the one or more records comprising one or more of housing records, vehicular records, marriage records, divorce records, hospital records, death records, court records, property records, incarceration records, or utility records, wherein the utility records comprise one or more of utility hookups, disconnects, and associated service addresses.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the independent address information or the address validity information comprises receiving one or more addresses of relatives or associates of the entity.

6. A computer-implemented method for detecting a tax refund fraud related to an identity misrepresentation, the method comprising:

receiving entity-supplied information comprising at least a name and a social security number associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

querying one or more public or private databases record with the entity-supplied information, wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receiving, based at least on the querying of the one or more public or private databases, data comprising one or more of a second social security number associated with the entity-supplied name, a second name associated with the entity-supplied social security number, or a name variant associated with the entity-supplied social security number;

querying an accessible Do Not Pay list with one or more combinations of the entity-supplied information and the received public or private data; and

outputting a fraud alert when the one or more combinations result in a match with at least one record in the Do Not Pay list.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein querying the Do Not Pay list with one or more combinations comprises querying the Do Not Pay list with one or more of the entity-supplied name and the entity-supplied social security number, the entity-supplied name and the second social security number, the second name or the name variant and the entity supplied social security number, or the second name or the name variant and the second social security number.

8. A system comprising:

at least one memory for storing data and computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive entity-supplied information comprising at least a name, a social security number, and a mailing address with a zip code associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

query one or more public or private databases with the entity-supplied information, wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receive a plurality of independent information in response to the querying, wherein the plurality of independent information includes, as applicable;

an indication of whether or not the entity is deceased, and a date of death when the entity is indicated as deceased;

independent address information associated with the entity;

address validity information associated with the entity-supplied information;

one or more records associated with the entity-supplied information;

or

no information; and

determine, with one or more computer processors in communication with a memory, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with at least a portion of the plurality of independent information, indicators of fraud, comprising;

entity deceased within a tax year related to the tax refund or died within a timeframe of the tax year that would indicate a possible non-fraud tax refund request;

the entity-supplied mailing address does not match with any of the independent address information;

the entity-supplied mailing address having no record of association with any independent address information, including addresses of relatives or addresses of associates; and

the entity-supplied mailing address includes an entity-supplied zip code having no record of association with one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information;

and

output, for display, zero or more indicators of fraud, wherein zero indicators of fraud correspond to no fraud determined.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:

determine, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with the plurality of independent information, zero or more fraud false positive indicators, wherein a false positive indicator corresponds to a legitimate tax refund request that appears fraudulent, the zero or more fraud false positive indicators comprising one or more of;

the entity appears to be a minor based on one or more of the entity-supplied information and the independent information, wherein the entity-supplied social security number is valid and issued within three to fifteen years;

or

the entity is at least twenty-four years old, and the independent information comprises no information;

or

the entity-supplied mailing address is invalid with a record of association between a zip code of the entity-supplied mailing address and one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information; and

output the zero or more fraud false positive indicators.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein, the indication of whether or not the entity is deceased comprises a length of time since the entity has deceased when the entity is indicated as deceased.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of independent information comprises one or more of housing records, vehicular records, marriage records, divorce records, hospital records, death records, court records, property records, incarceration records, or utility records, wherein the utility records comprise one or more of utility hookups, disconnects, and associated service addresses.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the independent address information or the address validity information comprises one or more addresses of relatives or addresses of associates of the entity.

13. A system comprising:

at least one memory for storing data and computer-executable instructions; and

at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive entity-supplied information comprising at least a name and a social security number associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

query one or more public or private databases with the entity-supplied information, wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receive, based at least on the querying of the one or more public or private databases, data comprising one or more of a second social security number associated with the entity-supplied name, a second name associated with the entity-supplied social security number, or a name variant associated with the entity-supplied social security number;

query an accessible Do Not Pay list with one or more combinations of the entity-supplied information and the received public or private data; and

output a fraud alert when the one or more combinations result in a match with at least one record in the Do Not Pay list.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more combinations of the entity-supplied information and the received public data comprises one or more of the entity-supplied name and the entity-supplied social security number, the entity-supplied name and the second social security number, the second name or name variant and the entity supplied social security number, or the second name or the name variant and the second social security number.

15. One or more computer readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to:

receive entity-supplied information comprising at least a name, a social security number, and a mailing address with a zip code associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

query one or more public or private databases with the entity-supplied information, wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receive a plurality of independent information in response to the querying, wherein the plurality of independent information includes, as applicable;

an indication of whether or not the entity is deceased, and a date of death when the entity is indicated as deceased;

independent address information associated with the entity;

address validity information associated with the entity-supplied information;

one or more records associated with the entity-supplied information;

or

no information; and

determine, with one or more computer processors in communication with a memory, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with at least a portion of the plurality of independent information, indicators of fraud comprising;

entity deceased within a tax year related to the tax refund or died within a timeframe of the tax year that would indicate a possible non-fraud tax refund request;

the entity-supplied mailing address does not match with any of the independent address information;

the entity-supplied mailing address having no record of association with any independent address information, including addresses of relatives or addresses of associates; and

the entity-supplied mailing address includes an entity-supplied zip code having no record of association with one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information;

and

output, for display, zero or more indicators of fraud, wherein zero indicators of fraud correspond to no fraud determined.

16. The computer readable media of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to:

determine, based at least in part on a comparison of the entity-supplied information with the plurality of independent information, zero or more fraud false positive indicators, wherein a false positive indicator corresponds to a legitimate tax refund request that appears fraudulent, the zero or more fraud false positive indicators comprising one or more of;

the entity appears to be a minor based on one or more of the entity-supplied information and the independent information, wherein the entity-supplied social security number is valid and issued within three to fifteen years;

or

the entity is at least twenty-four years old, and the independent information comprises no information;

or

the entity-supplied mailing address is invalid with a record of association between a zip code of the entity-supplied mailing address and one or more zip codes associated with the independent address information; and

output the zero or more fraud false positive indicators.

17. One or more computer readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, configure the one or more processors to:

receive entity-supplied information comprising at least a name and a social security number associated with a requested tax refund from a tax agency;

query one or more public or private databases with the entity-supplied information wherein the one or more public or private databases are independent of the tax agency;

receive, based at least on the querying of the one or more public or private databases, data comprising one or more of a second social security number associated with entity-supplied name, a second name associated with the entity-supplied social security number, or a name variant associated with the entity-supplied social security number;

query an accessible Do Not Pay list with one or more combinations of the entity-supplied information and the received public or private data; and

output a fraud alert when the one or more combinations result in a match with at least one record in the Do Not Pay list.

18. The computer readable media of claim 17, wherein the one or more combinations of the entity-supplied information and the received data comprises one or more of the entity-supplied name and the entity-supplied social security number, the entity-supplied name and the second social security number, the second name or the name variant and the entity supplied social security number, or the second name or the name variant and the second social security number.